BOOK
II
Psalms
42–72
FRAMEWORKS:
Psalm 42
For
the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah.
[Preliminary
Comments: This psalm by the sons of Korah, clearly partners
with the following psalm. A beautifully simple psalm that acknowledges
an inner anguish over the apparent absence of the Lord. The answer
– to hope, trust, wait on Him and know His presence.]
v.1,2
The Psalmist yearns for the Lord
v.1
As
the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
v.2 My
soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
v.3
He has wept at the apparent absence of the Lord
v.3
My
tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
v.4
He recollects how it was in the past
v.4
These
things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng.
v.5
A repeated refrain: awareness of inner anxiety and the answer
v.5
Why,
my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
v.6
The way to combat it is to remember and turn to the Lord
v.6
My
soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
v.7
The depths within me are overwhelmed by the sounds of the world
v.7
Deep
calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
v.8
By both day and night his love enables me to pray
v.8
By
day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
v.9
I say to the Steadfast One, why am I left like this?
v.9
I
say to God my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?”
v.10
I am physically worn out when the godless taught me about your
absence
v.10
My
bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
v.11
The repeated refrain again: awareness of inner anxiety and the
answer
v.11
Why,
my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
[Additional
Thoughts: Self awareness can be healthy as long as it
leads to a positive outcome which, for the psalmist here, is to
know the Lord's presence and trust that He will turn up to bring
the desired change.]
Continue
to Psa 43